Kangia

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"Tower of wide-span thinking" ( Enshirō )
" Autumn Wind House" ( Shūfūan )
Subjects, teaching aids, curriculum, daily routine, origin of the students and famous graduates of the Kangien Academy (hanging scrolls of the Kangien Education and Research Center, Hita)
Kangien Education and Research Center

Kangien ( Japanese 咸宜 園 ) was a private Japanese academy ( shijuku ) in the rural district of Hita on Kyushu Island, from which influential figures of the 19th century emerged.

founding

In contrast to the Confucians in China, who rose to the highest state offices after rigorous examinations, the Confucians in Japan remained relegated to subordinate roles as advisers, teachers, and scholars. This gave them more freedom in interpreting and developing the teachings transmitted from China. The founding of the Kangien Academy in the district around Hita, which is directly subordinate to the Tokugawa government , goes back to the neo-Confucian Hirose Tansō (1782-1856). Because of his weak constitution, Tansō, the son of a wealthy merchant family with an extensive education, left the business to his brother Kyūbē ( 久 – , 1790–1871) after various illnesses and made a name for himself from then on as one of the "Three Wise Men of the Bungo Province ". The accumulation of good deeds played a crucial role in his thinking. Heaven would reward this.

In 1805 he started a private teaching business in a building of the Chōfuku Temple in Mameda-machi, which he expanded two years later to the Keirin Academy ( Keirin-en , 桂林 園 ) elsewhere . In 1817 it was finally moved to the village of Hotta. Here, based on a verse from the Chinese Book of Songs ( Shījīng ), it was given the name Kangi-en , roughly equivalent to "Garden / Academy for All (s)". Apart from a four-month closure after Hirose's death, this most important educational facility on Kyushu Island lasted until the end of the 19th century. In the meantime, it was also led by Hirose Tansō's younger brother Hirose Gyokusō .

business

In many private schools, the ranking among the students was regulated by the principle of seniority and social status. As its name suggests, the academy in Hita was open to everyone regardless of their origin, status or age. Occasionally young women also completed an apprenticeship here. One of the outstanding students, the later founder of the medical school in Fukuoka Takeya Yūshi, left a detailed description of everyday life. As a Confucian and creator of Chinese poetry, Hirose attached great importance to the traditional "Four Books and Five Classics" ( 四 書 五 経 , Shisho gogyō ), but also gave lessons in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, geography, martial arts and other disciplines. The admission of aspirants was handled generously, but there was a strict performance principle and a packed daily routine. Once a month exams were carried out to re-establish the grades of the students ( 月 旦 評 , gettan-hyō ). The subject matter was adjusted to these nine grades. In preparation for their later life, the students took on many of the daily tasks within the framework of a task system ( 職 任 制 , Shokuninsei ).

The academy's register contains 4600 names. Together with other names recorded in Hirose Tansō's diary, the 92-year history of the academy has over 5000 graduates. A considerable number of these became known as Confucians, poets, Holland-Kundler , monks, doctors, politicians, educators: Takano Chōei, Chō Sanshū, Oka Kenkai, Ōmura Masujirō , Ueno Hikoma , Matsuda Michiyuki, Ōkuma Kotomichomi, Hoashi Kuniu, Yokota Kuniu , Kiyoura Keigo , Kawamura Hōshū, Akizuki Shintarō, Sasaki Gesshō; Takeya Yūshi et al. a. m.

The elaborate curricula made it possible for interested students to build their own schools based on this model. With the standardization of education through the establishment of a national school system subordinate to the new Ministry of Education and the entrance exams carried out by the new colleges and universities, the traditional academies gradually lost their attractiveness during the Meiji period . In 1897, after more than 90 years, teaching was discontinued at Hirose's Academy.

Head of the Academy

  • Hirose Tansō ( 廣 瀬 淡 窓 ): 1805-1830
  • Hirose Gyokusō ( 廣 瀬 旭 荘 ): 1830–1855
  • Hirose Seison ( 廣 瀬 青 邨 ): 1855–1863
  • Hirose Ringai ( 廣 瀬 林 外 ): 1863–1871
  • Karakawa Sokutei ( 唐川 即 定 ): 1871–1874
  • Sonoda Yōjō ( 園田 鷹城 ): 1879-1880
  • Murakami Konan ( 村上 姑 南 ): 1880–1885
  • Hirose Gōden ( 廣 瀬 濠 田 ): 1886–1888
  • Isayama Shukuson ( 諫 山 菽 村 ): 1888-1892
  • Katsuya Meihin ( 勝 屋 明 浜 ): 1896–1897

building

The " Autumn Wind House" ( Shūfūan ) has survived to this day, as has the "Tower of Far-Spanning Thought" ( Enshirō ). The other buildings ( Kōhanrō , Nishijuku , Minamijuku , etc.) disappeared in part in the 19th century. In 1932 the complex was declared a national historic site. In 2015 it was declared the “Heritage of Japan” ( Nihon Isan , Japan Heritage) along with other early modern educational institutions . A small Kangien Education and Research Center shows material on the history of the facility and the people involved.

literature

  • Inoue Tadashi (ed.): Takeya Yūshi cho 'Nanka ichimu' . In: Kyūshū Bunkashi Kenkyūsho Kiyō, Vol. 10, 1962, pp. 71–93 ( 井上 忠 校訂: 武谷祐 之 著 「南柯一夢」. 九州 文化史 研究所 紀要 )
  • Kassel, Marleen: Moral Education in Early-Modern Japan - The Kangien Confucian Academy of Hirose Tanso. In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 298-310 (1993)
  • Marleen Kassel: Tokugawa Confucian Education: The Kangien Academy of Hirose Tansō (1782-1856) . SUNY Press, 1996, ISBN 0-7914-2807-9 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  • Miura Baien: Kagen - From the origin of value. Vademecum on a Japanese classic of economic thought. Commentary volume with contributions by Günther Distelrath, Kurt Dopfer, Josef Kreiner, Masamichi Komuro, Hidetomi Tanaka and Kiichiro Yagi. Düsseldorf: Verlag Wirtschaft und Finanz 2001, ISBN 3878811640

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ today part of the city of Hita , Ōita prefecture
  2. ↑ Jap. Bungo san kenjin ( 豊 後 三 賢人 ), d. i. next to Hirose Tansō the philosopher Miura Baien (1723–1789) and the Confucian Hoashi Banri (1778–1852).
  3. ↑ Today the district of Hita
  4. ↑ Today part of the city of Hita
  5. ↑ This term goes back to the Chinese official Xǔ Shào (150–195), who is known for his assessment skills.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Inoue (1962)
  2. ↑ Inoue (1962); Kassel, 118ff.